You know you’re in IT if…

You know you’re in IT if:

…you sleep upright in an IT cabinet.

…you’ve used a server to warm your coffee.

…you still use CRT monitors.

Have something better? Finish the sentence for a chance to win great prizes, including: Apple iPad®, Black Box Gift Certificate, Deluxe Gadget Kit, Laser Light, and more. We are giving away 40 prizes to the people who submit the funniest or most original endings to the sentence:

You know you’re in IT if…

Enter now! Hurry, contest ends July 30th, 2012.

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Promotion begins on or about June 21, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. ET and ends on July 30, 2012 at 11:59:59 p.m. ET. Open only to legal U.S. residents of the fifty (50) United States and D.C. who are 18 years of age or older. Click here to see Official Rules for how to enter, additional eligibility restrictions, prize descriptions/restrictions/ARVs, and complete details. Void where prohibited.

5 Ways to cool your IT cabinets

Networking equipment—especially servers—generates a lot of heat in a relatively small area. Today’s servers are smaller and have faster CPUs than ever. Because most of the power used by these devices is dissipated into the air as heat, they can really strain the cooling capacity of your data center. The components housed in a medium-sized data center can easily generate enough heat to heat a house in the dead of winter!

So cool you must, because when network components become hot, they’re prone to failure and a shortened lifespan. Damage caused by heat is not always immediately evident as a catastrophic meltdown—signs of heat damage include node crashes and hardware failures that can happen over a period of weeks or even moths, leading to chronic downtime.

It’s also important to ensure that individual cabinets used for network equipment provide adequate ventilation. The temperature inside a cabinet is affected by many variables, including door perforations, cabinet size, and the types of components housed within the cabinet.

The most direct way to cool network equipment is to ensure adequate airflow. The goal is that every server, every router, every switch has the necessary amount of air no matter how high or low it is in the cabinet. It takes a certain volume of air to cool a device to within its ideal temperature range. Equipment manufacturers provide very little guidance about how to do this; however, there are some very basic methods you can use to maximize the ventilation within your cabinets.

Black Box Video Tutorials! How to Select a Cabinet and Rack

You’ve done your homework choosing your latest servers; now it’s time to choose a cabinet to put them in, one that’ll give you ample security, equipment access, and airflow. Shopping for a cabinet isn’t something you do every day. Educate yourself on how to pick the right cabinet by watching a free on-line video from Black Box. “How to Pick a Cabinet” explains how to choose a cabinet for your environment, such as NEMA-rated models for varying degrees of equipment protection in indoor and outdoor areas, as well as enclosures for crowded rooms.

With plenty of visual aids and graphics to illustrate, the video also covers the differences between types of mounting rails; what you’ll need for extra-deep equipment mounting and effective cable management; and how to ensure maximum cooling efficiency. Other video tutorials available at www.blackbox.com explain what to look for in a CAT5e and CAT6 channel solution, as well as how to get started with digital signage and how to set up remote server access with the latest KVM-over-IP technologies.

Also want objective advice on how to choose a rack for your particular needs? Then check out the new on-line Tips for Techs video from Black Box that is available for viewing. To watch, just select “How to Pick a Rack.” This educational video shows step by step how to go about picking a 2-post or 4-post rack for various applications and types of equipment mounting. The video tutorial also discusses common rack measurements and how to select a rack for a tight space, such as a cramped wiring closet or narrow corridor. It also covers: extensive cable management and common rack accessories; and what you need to mount, secure, and ground equipment.